McGee &8212; The Natchez All-Stars made use of their bats and their legs Saturday in the first round of the Dixie Youth Mississippi State Championship, as they defeated Laurel 5-1.

Natchez started the game with a bang as Christopher Perry took the first pitch he saw and knocked it over the right field fence.

Giovanni Dent kept things rolling for Natchez as he also belted a hit solo homerun over the centerfield fence to put the All-Stars up 2-0. Jake Brumfield was impressive off the mound for Natchez, as he recorded 10 strikeouts through seven innings including two at the top of the first inning and all three of the Laurel-Jones batters in the final inning.

The bats stayed hot through the second inning as Johnny Smith crushed another Laurel-Jones pitch, to record Natchez&8217;s third solo home run of the game.

Jake Brumfield nearly recorded a fourth homerun, but that ball was returned over the fence by the glove of the Laurel-Jones centerfielder.

In the third inning the bats cooled off a little for Natchez but the legs of the All-Stars carried the team through as both Tyler Brumfield and Trevor Farmer scored off of passed balls.

Laurel-Jones made a late run after a pitching change as Eli Morris took over for Tyler Roney in the fourth inning and struck out five Natchez batters in the final three innings of the game. Morris scored the only Laurel-Jones run during the fourth inning off a Deon Fulmer triple.

Natchez will play Petal in the second round today in McGee at 6p.m. Petal beat Corinth 5-1 to advance earlier in the day.